Installing and dual booting with, SUSE Linux 9.1 Professional, and Windows XP

Installing OSs with gore







Installing and dual booting SUSE Linux 9.1 Professional and Windows XP SP1






Written by: gore










Introduction :








I said I'd never do it. I know. But I got bored, and Vim was right there, so I did it. I'm making a tutorial to help you all dual boot with Windows XP, and SUSE Linux 9.1 Professional.

I'm doing this mainly for the same reason as my last few tutorials:

To have a huge paper that will allow readers to learn about OSs, and also to learn how to install them, and then to actually use them.

This is going to borrow from my other tutorial on installing SUSE Linux 9.1 Professional, and be modified to show you how to use it with Windows XP. A lot of people seem to want to use Linux, but don't want to get rid of Windows.

Well, that's fine, and I may actually leave this set up on my machine for a while. I haven't dual booted Linux and Windows in quite some time, and it may come in handy.


Changing my ways and how I feel about dual booting is better I guess. Mainly because now I can help show people how to do it so they can try Linux out. I had to look past my typical UNIX/Linux/BSD ego, so that I could help more people.

I guess it was wrong of me to say I wouldn't help people dual boot, because if people are going to even try Linux, they probably will keep Windows, and if they can't get help dual booting, then they probably won't even bother trying it. So this is for the Gnu/Linux community, and getting more people to use Linux.










Begining :









First off, I recommend you do a fresh install of Windows XP. If this is not a valid option for you, then that's OK, but at least do a defrag on your HD by clicking on Start, going to "All programs" and going to "System Tools". click on "Disk Defragmenter".

If you'd like to just have a fresh install of both OSs, just follow along:












Installing Windows XP Home Edition :








To start the installation of Windows XP, or if you already have it installed and just plan on reinstalling fresh, then take the Windows XP installation CD-ROM, or if you got stuck with "Restore Disks" take Disk 1 and put it in the CD-ROM drive of your machine, and shut it down for a few seconds.


After a you have waited a few seconds, turn the power to your computer on, and then watch as it picks up that the CD is in the drive. If it asks you to press a key to boot from the CD, press a key.

after that it should start up and start looking over the set up of your computer. You soon see a screen that looks for hardware and things like that, and loads drivers it will need.

This can take a few minutes, so be calm. After a few minutes the screen will show you "Welcome to Windows set up".

At this screen, you just press the Enter key, and then you see the Windows license agreement. At this screen, just hit F8 to continue. also, be sure to have your Windows key handy as you may need it.

My copy of Windows XP does not require a CD key to install, and it is an actual windows XP installation disk, but others may have to have it handy.

when you press F8, you come to a screen showing partitions. If you have XP on your machine already, then you'll see only that partition, unless you have others. If you don't have anything on the machine, then well, the screen will probably look different.

Well, not different, but the keys will not show the same options. You have to delete all partitions on the machine to start the computer out fresh, so look at the on screen options, and press the keys to delete other partitions.


after you have them deleted, you'll see "Press Enter to install Windows XP on this partition".

If you're reinstalling XP, you'll see "To continue installing a fresh copy of Windows XP without repairing, press ESC.

So if you're installing fresh, press Enter and like it tells you to. If you're reinstalling over a previous installation of Windows XP, then press ESC like it tells you.

If you're reinstalling, you'll press ESC, and then be shown the partition screen. If you had Linux or another OS installed before, and not Windows, you probably saw this screen a few minutes ago, so now you can follow along if you wish.







Partitioning in Windows XP the easy way :




WARNING!



I'm assuming here that you have already backed up all data you don't want deleted. If you have NOT done this, and you want to save things to a CD-R or floppy, then stop here, and do so now.

If you are fine with having everything on the HD deleted, then go ahead and continue.



You should now have a list of partitions on your screen. Well, assuming you have Linux already on there, because that's what I see. You want to delete all partitions on here, so just press the Up and Down arrow keys to select partitions.

You should also see towards the top of the screen something like "To delete the selected partition, press D." and this is what you want to do.

Press D, and then you may or may not get a warning about how it could be a system partition. This is fine, you made back ups, right? So on this screen, press your Enter key, and then you go to another screen saying "To delete this partition for real, press L".

Anyway, press L and you go back to the screen showing the partitions with a new entry: "Unpartitioned space".

If you only had one partition to begin with, then you're done, as long as there is only ONE partition, and it says "Unpartitioned space". If you still see partitions, then press the Down arrow key to select the next one, and repeat this whole process of typing keys to delete it.

Press the Down arrow key, Press D, Press L, and repeate until you have only one partition as I said above.

When you have no more partitions to delete, and just the one big one saying "Unpartitioned space" press Enter to install on it.

After you have press Enter, you can choose how to format the HD. You have two options :

Format with NTFS quick, and Format with NTFS.

You can choose either or really, because they will both do what you want it to do, which is format the HD. The one is faster, and the other takes longer.

I'm going to select the quicker method.

Use the Up and Down arrow keys to select which method you want, and then press Enter.

After pressing Enter, you go to another screen, which will then show you a progress bar in which it formats your HD.









When the formatting is done :








After it formats your HD, you come to another screen where it does a quick check, and then moves to the next screen.

The screen you are now looking at is copying Windows files to the folder they will be used in. this will take some time, so you can go get coffee or something to drink while you wait.




Now, when this finishes up, your machine will do a few more things, which won't take long at all, and then it will reboot. Don't worry, this is normal. the machine does display a message that it will reboot in a certain amount of time, so just relax and watch it reboot. Also, now is a good time to get used to this process, as you'll be doing it a lot when you download security updates.









After the machine reboots :








After your machine has rebooted, you will see a message saying to press any key to boot from the CD. DO NOT press a key. Just leave the keyboard alone. If you touch a key, you will have to start over.


After the machine starts up, you'll notice a GUI start to load up. The Windows installation will start to take place, and this can take a while, but not to terribly long. If you'd like, you can read the little messages on the screen about how great Windows XP is over other versions of Windows, just like every version fo Windows has had.

Depending on how your machine is set up, it may only take a few minutes before the window pops up saying you can configure your computer. If you are like me though, and don't want to read these messages, you can also have a nice refreshing smoke, which I will now do.








Setting up the machine :








After you come back from smoking, you should see the set up Window telling you that you can now start setting the machine up.


You probably won't need to touch anything on the first screen, so just click on Next.

After clicking on Next, Enter in your name, and if needed, your Orginization.

After you have done this, click on Next.

The next screen shows your computer's name. You can change this to really anything you want as long as it does not break the rules that are on the screen.

Usually it's OK to leave it alone, but you may need to have on specific if you have a network, or are at work. In which case you should ask your admin what to put in.

After you have decided what to put in, click on Next.

this is where you set the clock up. Select the time zone you're in, by clicking on the drop down, or drop up menu. If needed you can set the clock by clicking on the hour or minute parts, and using the up and down buttons to change it.

Click on Next.

after you click Next, the installation starts to install the other components of the OS.

The next section is for network settings. Start by clicking on the "Custom settings" options, and then select Next.

After clicking on Next, you go to the screen where you select Networking components. Again, if you have a LAN, or you're at work, ask your admin for what to do here.

I personally am going to click on the File and Print sharing option, and then click on "Uninstall". After doing that a window will pop up saying that you have to be sure, in which case I click on "Yes".

The rest are OK for now, as I don't have A Windows Network, and don't need the sharing abilities.

After you have checked with your admin, click on "Next". this section can pretty much be left alone, so go ahead and click on "Next" again.

The window goes away s more things are installed and copied the the HD, so relax.

Now, after a few minutes, your machine will reboot again, so remember not to touch the keyboard and boot from CD.

The machine will boot up and display the start up for Windows XP, but you're not done yet.


After it has finished loading up, you'll see a window open up saying it will set up your resolution for you, so click OK, which is your only option.


You should have nor problem with this, and click on Yes when you have the pop up ask you if you can see it. Windows then continues loading so that you can begin setting up your computer.


Now, this is a part where Paper clip, the little dancing office tool, has his cousin stand in. It's Mr. Question bubble!

Click on Next in the lower right hand corner to continue.


Windows XP checks to see if you're hooked up to the internet, and then allows you to configure a network. I have a cable connection, and a router, so everything is hooked up already.

I click on Next at this screen, as it defaults to a LAN configuration.

The next screen I don't have to walk you through, as it's the registration process, and this should be something you do yourself, with a key YOU own. If you have a Key code that was cracked, or doesn't belong to you, you don't have my permission to read or use any of this tutorial.





How to add users :




Next on the install is adding users.

I know some people who were used to Windows 9X were NOT used to logging in. Well, with my tutorial, you will.

This screen allows you to add users fairly easily. I'm the only one who uses this box, so I'm only adding one for now. But you should add at least one user. Running everything as Admin is just stupid.

Type in your name in the first line, and then, add at least one more.

After you have done all of this, click Next.

The next screen tells you that the machine is ready for the internet.

It's not, so don't believe it! Securing is going to be the next step after botting it up for the first time, so for now, click on "Finish" on the lower right hand corner where the "Next" button has been.

After you do this, windows XP loads, and you see the desktop.





Configuring Windows XP :





For starters, the screen size and other things may not be how you want it, so right click on the desktop, and click on "Properties".

Select the Settings tab.

Now, this is where you move the bar to select a new screen size. You can select whatever you want really. This is just how much desktop spave you'll have.

OK, enough of that, click on Start, point to "All Programs" and then click on Windows Update.


You're going to spend probably the next hour here. Download all critical updates, and any other updates you need for your machine. This is very important.

Click on Scan computer, and let it scan your computer for what updates you need. Then when it finishes, download and install them.

I'm selecting 34 of the updates. Some updates can't be downloaded at once, so you have to wait until you have rebooted for the others to grab them, but make sure you do!

Click on the little button saying "Install now" to start the downloading, and then, wait for them to finish. this is one step to protect your computer. Remember, security is NOT a program, it's a process, and this is a major part of it.


For a very good tutorial on securing Windows XP better than I can tell you how to do, please look at my good friend Pooh Sun Tzu's tutorial here:


http://www.antionline.com/showthread...hreadid=255353


After you have downloaded the updates, and rebooted, go BACK and check again. Sometimes updates aren't available until after you have others that are, so get them.











SUSE Linux 9.1 Professional:




Installation of SUSE Linux 9.1 Professional:




Introduction:







Starting up the installation:






For readers with unsupported hardware:


If for some reason you use Hardware that does not want to work, don't give
up. You can do a text based installation. This may also be best if you're
installing on a server machine. Please refer to the "Administration Guide"
book that came with SUSE Linux 9.1 Professional to work with the text based
installation. For the most part, a lot of how the installation goes will act
the same, just in text.




What will you be using your system for?



Server use:


If you plan in using SUSE Linux 9.1 Professional as a server system, you
probably won't need much. When it comes time for package selection, read how I
show you to find more packages to install, and then select which services you
need.


YAST2 will work in text only mode. Like "MCC" for Mandrake Linux, SUSE Linux
9.1 Professional has YAST2 for both GUI and text only run levels. YAST2 will
work fine, and is quite easy to use.



Workstation:



If you plan on using Linux for a workstation, first, decide if you want to use
a GUI at all first. You really don't need X at all, but if you have never used
a UNIX based OS before, or if the last sentence confused you, you should
install X.


For a workstation, anywhere from 500 MB - 2 GB would be a good size. This
gives you a little room to grow and save documents you may be working on, and
of course have a few MP3s. SUSE comes with great command line MP3 players.



Home use:


Using Linux for home use, to do work you need to get done, and of course
surfing the web is fun. You again may decide if you need X or not, but as I
said before, if you have never used it before, I highly recommend X.


About 1 GB would be an OK size for HD space, but if you download music or
movies, or install software, or like to put things on your HD, I would
recommend anywhere from 2 - 7 GB of HD space.



Gore style use:


If you're like me, then a small HD may not work so well. I use my machines for
a lot of reasons. Everything from Web/FTP/SSH servers, to playing games,
listening to music, watching movies, surfing the web, exploring things, and
web development.


If this sounds more like you, and you're a female, please send your phone
number and e-mail address too...Woops, sorry there.

OK, if this sounds like you, then here are two machines I use with SUSE Linux
that work just fine for me:

One machine has a 42.9 GB HD and a Pentium 3 733 MHz processor, and 384 MB
RAM. This works fine for just about everything I throw at it.

The other machine has an 80 GB HD and a 2.40 GHz processor with 512 MBs RAM,
and a 128 MB Nvidia card for games. This can of course handle everything I
throw at it too.

I use both machines for Web, FTP, and SSH servers so I can
upload, back up, and store thing across my network with the other boxes, and
of course these two machines have awesome speakers, so I use SSH to play MP3s
when I'm not near one of them, but want to listen to songs I have stored on
those HD while working on another machine.


I would recommend at least a 20-30 GB HD for this kind of use.




Absolute minimum HD size for SUSE Linux 9.1 Professional to install:

180 MB




SUSE can be installed on a 180 MB HD, but this will be the smallest you can
trim it down too. XFree86 will NOT be installed in this small amount of HD
space, but I also doubt that anyone will be using that small of a disk unless
it is for server use only.

SUSE can be installed on a HD that small, and also comes with more packages than any other distro. Most versions of Linux need at least a GB now, but SUSE still allows for the smallest HD of all the major Linux distros.





Install:




Take either the first DVD, or the first CD out, and open either your CD drive to insert CD 1 or your DVD drive to insert DVD 1 and reboot the machine.



As the machine starts up you should see a splash screen, and then another screen with options too either boot from the hard disk, or install, or a few other things.

The first thing I am going to do is hit "F2" and select 1024x768 for the installation, because I like that setting. You can set this to whatever you want as long as your hardware will support it.


To start the installation, hit the DOWN arrow key once, to highlight "Installation" and then hit "ENTER".

After you have hit the "ENTER" key, you should see another splash screen. To see what it is actually doing, hit "F2" or if you don't care, sit and wait. It is currently checking for hardware, and doing a few other things, which can take some time, so relax while it does it's job.


After this stage, your screen should go black for a minute, and then you should end up at another screen saying "Welcome to SUSE Linux". This is where you select your language.


Move your mouse, and notice how it makes the arrow on the screen move too. After you have the hang of that down, select which language you speak. After you have done this, click on "Accept" in the lower right hand corner.


After you click "Accept" you are taken to a new screen where your hardware is detected.

You should now be at a screen showing "Installation Settings"


Check over everything to make sure it detected your mouse and system correctly. If you need to change anything, just move the mouse over the particular group of settings you want to change, and it will turn into a hand, which, yes, it is a link to change that particular group of settings.


Where is says "Partitioning" You should see "Resize partition" in there, as it picked up that I have a fresh install of windows XP on this machine, and it will not re-size it for me, and make two other partitions for Linux.

I am going to accept the default settings it gave me because it's what I wanted anyway.


The "Time Zone" section I am going to change though. I live in Michigan.


I click on "Time Zone" select "Michigan" from the list at the right of the screen, and then click on "Accept" in the lower right.


Clicking "Accept" brings me back to the main installation page, and now I am going for the long, take a few hours possibly part of the installation; Selecting Software.


This only takes long because I select each and every of the 5,000 or so packages myself, by hand.


It's not hard to really do though. To get to the package selection, click on "Software" You come to a new screen, which allows you to select a few ways of software installation, and from here, click on "Detailed Selection".


The next screen shows a few groups of packages you can install, but there is more than this. I found out in the first few SUSE installs I ever made that if you look in the upper left corner of the screen, you can see "Filter:" Click on the word "Selections" and from the drop down menu, select "Package Groups".


Now you should see a huge list of groups on the left hand side of the screen.


Before you get yourself into dependency Hell, in the middle of the screen, at the very bottom, click on "Autocheck". This will make sure that when you click on a new package to add, it will grab the dependencies too.


For this page, you're on your own. I'm not typing out every package I'm picking, and you shouldn't pick every package I select, as some you may not need.

for this part, just look around, and see if you want any extra packages. If you're not sure about a particular package, click on it, but don't select to install it, and it will show you a description of it.


OK, I'm not assuming anyone reading this is stupid, but if you've never installed SUSE Linux before, the way you install a packages source code, is buy sliding the little blue bar in the middle of the screen all the way to the right, and you'll see that another little check box is there for installation of source code.


After you have selected the packages you want, you may want to save the selections you made to a floppy disk so if you install on another machine or have to reinstall for some reason, you don't have to go through this all again. Grab a FAT formatted floppy disk, stick it in the floppy drive, and at the top of the screen, click on "File" and click on "Export".

Click on "Floppy" at the little pop up window, and click on "OK". The selection list is saved to the floppy, and when you get the pop up that it unmounted alright, you're ready to take the floppy out, and click on "Accept" in the bottom right hand corner.


After you click "Accept" it checks dependencies one more time, and then pops up a window showing you all the packages that will be added for dependencies. Click on "Continue" as these packages will be added automatically.


After clicking on "Continue" you go back to the main screen again. Make sure you have all the options you wanted set, and when you have made sure your options are correct, click "Accept" in the bottom right hand corner of the screen.


When you click on "Accept" a little green window pops up, warning you that all the information you have to provide to install is now complete, and that the installation is going to actually begin.


Click on "Yes, Install" in the left bottom corner of the green pop up window.


After you click "Yes, Install" YAST2 formats the partitions, and begins installing.


Now is a good time to go smoke, as I am about to do, because this will take a few minutes.


Now is a good time to mention that SUSE defaults to Reiser for the file
system. This is fine because I use it anyway. You of course can choose another
if you'd like, but Reiser is quite good, and I usually stick with it, even for
my Slackware installations.


Reiser is a "Journaling" File System, meaning it keeps little notes about
things in the file system. This is great for crash recovery. If for some
reason you do have a system crash, you can get back up and running very fast.

EXT3 is also Journaling. If you like EXT2, but like the idea of faster crash
recovery, then this may just be something more for you. All 3 file systems are
available to you, and you can choose whichever you'd like, but I will leave
that up to you.

Reading the manuals that came with your box will help you get through
that. The point of this tutorial is to get it installed, up, and running. The
manuals it came with are great, so read them.

Remember, a year ago at this time, I was using Linux for my first time too. So
if you stick with it, you'll learn fast, and be better at customizing how you
want it too run.

I think SUSE has really done a lot for making Linux easier to use for a
beginner, and some people won't use it because "It's to easy". I think that is
pretty shallow in my opinion, because Linux can't get more users if it's to
hard to use.

If someone ever makes fun of you for using SUSE, it's best to just not talk to
them. Someone with that big of an ego about this really isn't going to listen
to anything you say anyway.

SUSE has a lot of software, and is a good first distribution. You can learn
with it because it's easy enough for a beginner, but also has advanced tools
and settings to allow you room to grow.

When it becomes to easy for you to use and you want more of a challenge, just
switch to runlevel 3 ;)


This tutorial is being typed on a Slackware 9.1 machine, and I'm
installing SUSE 9.1 Professional as I type this to make sure that I have a
play by play tutorial that works.




After a while the packages finish installing and another screen comes up. This is "Finishing Basic Install". It will take a few minutes, but not nearly as long as the last screen.


After this step finishes, you will see a count down screen telling you the
system will restart. After it restarts, it will start booting up, and then go
back to YAST2.


The first screen you see asks you to create a root password. I don't think I
have to remind you of how important it is to NOT make this easy to guess, or
even a real word.

For more information on picking a password, see below where I have pasted a copy of my SUSE Linux security tutorial.

After you pick a root password, click "NEXT" and you are taken to another
screen to configure, and set up, the network.


This screen tells you what SUSE has found on your computer. If you have DSL,
you should see something there in the DSL connections area, and if you use
dial up, it should find your modem no problem.


This machine I am installing on has an integrated software modem, and it even
found that. Thank the Lord, I don't use dial up anymore. If you have a cable
connection, or a LAN, then it should have a NIC it found, as it does for me.


If you have problems with it finding your hardware, don't worry, the manuals
can help you, and so can clicking on whatever is not correct on this screen.

Also, remember some NICs use similar chips, and one NIC driver may work for
600 others.

After you're done looking over this screen, click on "Next".


YAST2 saves the Network configuration, and then brings you to another screen
that allows you to test your network connections. The default is to test the
network connection, so go ahead and let it, unless you're in a hurry.

Click on "Next" and YAST2 brings up the network and then tries making
connection to the internet. If it does, it will also check for updates, as my
machine just did. Don't think this means it will show the updates just yet,
all you will see is "Result: Success".

If you have problems, click on back, and try again. It should work fine
though, it does for me. Obviously if your ISP is having problems you may not
get this part done.


After you have finished the network connection test, select "Next".

After you click on "Next" a pop up window pops up and asks if you would like
to update. Unless you have accidently set your house on fire, and need to get
your children out to safety, then there is no reason you should not do this.


It defaults to "Yes, Run Online Update Now" so click on "OK".


After you have clicked on "OK" you are taken to a screen showing "YOU". Click
"Next" and it will pop up a window trying to connect to the servers. If you
get an error saying to many users are connected, don't worry, just click on
the drop down menu and select another city.


After you select one that allows you to connect, the pop up window checks for
the updates you need, and then takes you to another screen showing you the
updates.


Scroll down on this update section, and you can download "Microsoft TrueType
Core fonts" and the Nvidia graphics card driver, and even firmware for
Wireless cards.


The updates that are not checked may not be needed bye you, but if you click
on them, you will see if they are updated or not. It will show a check on the
box if you have the package installed, and if you do, go ahead and click on
the update to add it to the downloads.

If you see the box colored in with grey, then you don't have that installed,
and don't need the update. Security updates are already preselcted for you,
and when you finish selecting whatever else you want, then go ahead and click
on "Accept".


After clicking "Accept" if you selected to download the Microsoft True Type
Fonts, you will have a message pop up asking if you really want to install the
patch. It's nothing but a license to use them.

Go ahead and click on "Install Patch".

The next pop up is the Nvidia video card driver. Go ahead and click on
"Install Patch".

The next pop up window is warning you about updating a Kernel.

DO NOT INSTALL THIS PATCH YET. If you read the pop up window, you will see
that it will possibly cause problems, so wait untill you have finished the
install, and run Yast Online Update again. Click on "Skip Patch".


After you click on "Skip Patch" you should see the updates start to
download. If you want to save disk space, click on "Remove Source Packages
After Update" under thst status bars.


Depending on the speed of your connection, this may take a while. After the
updates are downloaded, the "Total Progress" bar shows 50% As the packages
begin being installed.


After a little while, a pop up should come up on your window saying how to
update your Anti Virus software SUSE came with.


If you miss the update, or forget how to do this, the pop up says to run
"freshclam" to update.

After that pop up window, the updates are finished installing. Click on
"Finish".


After you click on "Finish" the system configuration starts up to write this all
into configuration. This will happen every time you update SuSE Linux and
usually only takes a minute or two.


After that finishes up, you will be taken to another screen asking for
authentication methods.


Unless you know what you're doing on this, just stick with the default.

"Stand-Alone Machine" should be selected by default. This is fine, so click on
"Next".

Now it's time to add users. Add a user! Even if you're the only one using the
machine, make another anyway, running everything as root is grossly stupid.


Now, if you're the only one who uses your machine, it may be OK to allow auto
log in like Windows XP does.

If anyone lives with you, DE-SELECT THIS BY UNCHECKING THE BOX CHECKED BY
"AUTO LOG IN"!

After you have a user name typed in and everything set up there, click on
"Next".


You may see the password is going to be truncated. This is OK, and can be
changed later.

After you click on "Next" it writes the system configuration again, and much
faster this time.


When the system finishes writing the configuration, you will be at another
screen with the release notes. Read this if you want, and then click on
"Next".

After you click on "Next" the Hardware set up screen comes up.

It should find everything and have it set up just fine, but if you want to
change anything, just click on the section like you have throughout the
installation.

Click on "Next" after you have finished checking the hardware settings.


After you click on "Next" it saves the configuration for the hardware, and
then brings you to another screen telling you that the installation is
complete, and giving you the option to start the YAST Control Center right
away or not.


You can do this if you want, it doesn't really matter. Click on "Finish" after
deciding if you want to start up YAST right or not.

After clicking on "Finish" your computer finishes booting up, and then you can
log in. Welcome to SUSE Linux 9.1 Professional.


Go ahead and log in and play for a while, but you're not done yet. After you've looked around a bit, and had some fun, I highly recommend you look at securing SUSE Linux.








Configuring SUSE Linux



This should work for 8.1 Professional 8.2 Professional and most of 9.1 Professional.



Some of the modules in YAST2 were moved in SUSE Linux 9.1 Professional, but they still work the same so you should have no problems with it, just finding where they were moved too.






Chapter one: Security updates





The first thing you should when you have finished installing SUSE Linux, is to check for updates. Usually you can do this while you're installing, but just in case you haven't you should do it after you boot up.

By default, you should see a little icon in the lower right hand corner, which will turn Red when you have a security update. Just right click on it and select "Check for updates".

this will search online for updates to any software you may have installed. After that it may turn Red, which means updates are out.

If = Red

Then do update

Else = Check which color it turns.

If = Yellow

Then select a new server to check, as this means that it had a problem connecting.

If = Green

Then everything is OK and there are no new updates.


If you found security updates, then right click on the Red icon, and select "Launch YOU" which will launch Yast Online Update. It will display the information like which server it is using.

If your icon was Yellow, you should open this up anyway, and select a new server to use for updates. Just click on the drop down menu where the servers are listed and click on a new one and try again.

If you're updating though then click on "Next" and it will check for updates and display the ones you need. Not everything here listed is needed, but if you have the software on your computer, then it will automatically select it, so you don't really need to to anything.

Also, there is software listed that SUSE could not legally include on the CD, like drivers for Video and Wireless cards, and Microsoft True Type Fonts.

You can select these for install by clicking on check box next to them.

After you have downloaded them, you'll notice a check box saying "Remove sources". this is so you can remove the sources that it is downloading, which is a good idea because it frees up space, and unless you look over everything, you really won't need them much.


After the packages are downloaded and installed, you can go to the next screen and watch the configuration files get written, and then, you're done.



Note that you need Root to do this. If you're not logged in as Root, whatever you want to do that needs to be done as Root will have a little box pop up asking for the Root password. Just type it in, and for the time being, that particular application is now being ran as Root. It's not like Red Hat where you do something similar and then have Root for a set amount of time, it's only for the application you were launching. You have to type it again for every other application you want to run that Needs Root.




Chapter 2 : YAST2


Now, SUSE defaults with KDE, so for the time being, use KDE. This will work in any Window Manager, and will also work in Run Level three. You'll just use an arrow key instead of the mouse.


Open up the YAST control Center by clicking on the lightning bolt Green orb, and selecting "Administration" and then clicking on "YAST2".

A window pops up asking for the Root password again, and then launches. YAST2 is the main configuration utility in SUSE Linux, so learn to use it.

Click on the module titled "Security and Users".

Click on the "Firewall" Icon to launch the Firewall configuration.

The module pops up, and then you can configure the Firewall.

Now, this part I can't walk you through, as I doubt all of you reading have the exact same set up as I do, but I can help:

Read what's on the screen. You should see "External Interface". If you have a Cable connection, or if you're using a Network connection, or a LAN, then you will be selecting "etho" for this.

For the "Internal Interface" that one is up to you.

the screen has directions on the left, so if you're using DSL or Dial up,read it.

After you have this section done, click on "Next" in the lower right of that window, to go to the next page. Clicking "Next" brings you top a page with a few more options than the last.

If you're NOT running a server in which people need access to your machine, then do NOT click on anything here. This is for punching holes in the firewall to allow access to services on your box.


If you're going to be using SUSE for a server, than go ahead and click on what you need to allow access with.

I'm going to use this box for Apache, FTP, and SSH, so I click on the following:

HTTP

Secure Shell

And then I click on "Expert" and type in "21" for the FTP port.

you may open as many ports as you want here, and I don't think I have to walk you throug anymore. I told you how to open up the FTP port, and if you're setting up a server, then you should already know which ports do what.


After you have what you want typed in, click on "Ok" to go back to the other window.

After you have all the services you need opened up, click on "Next".

The next window doesn't have a whole lot to it, and is fairly easy. Be default, the pre-checked boxes are fine. If you don't know if you want to check the last box or not, leave it alone.

Click on "Next".

the next configuration window shows a few options for logging. Leave these alone unless you're sure.

Click "Next".

after you click on "Next" a window pops up saying it will save the configuration. Click on "Continue" and it saves your settings and restarts the SUSE2Firewall.



And now you're back at the main window. Next, click on "Security settings".


When you open the Security settings window, you'll have a few options for setting up some security on your system.

By default it has a custom level, which you will now be setting.

Click "Next".

The next window has password options. At the top where it says "Checks" click the box that says "Checking new passwords" which will keep users from setting bad passwords.


Next, in the Password Length section, you should probably raise the "Maximum" length up a few notches, as 8 is nothing. I raised mine to 25. You can also set some password change warnings here, which may come in handt if a lot of users are going to use the system.

Click on "Next".


The next section should be changed from default:

Where it says "Boot permissions" click on the drop down box where it says "Reboot" and select "Ignore" so no one can just reboot your system. This is especially important if you're running a server.

Under that, where it says "Automatic" you should select "Only Root". That way no one can just shut the system down.

Click "Next".

This window allows you to set how long of a delay there is if someone logs in and mistypes a password, or if someone is trying to guess passwords. The default is 3 seconds.

This can be left alone unless you have a nosey little brother or sister, or people like to try and guess your password, in which case you can set it to whatever you want.

After you have chosen your options, click on "Next".

The next section is the "Adding users" section. Unless you're sure, leave this alone. Click on the "Next" button.

The next window has a few more options, and some important ones.

The setting of file permissions will really have to depend on you. Easy is selected by default, but if you're trying to be secure, jsut click on the box and select the option entitled "Secure".


The next setting is for updatedb. This is run every night, and you can select which user runs the command. You won't be typing it if you select your own user name, it in fact just runs with permissions of whichever of the user names you tell it to run as.

I'd suggest leaving it at "Nobody". Most of the other options here should be left alone unless you knwo what you're doing.


After you have selected what you would like here, click on the "Next" button, and all the settings will be saved.





Chapter 3 : System



In this Chapter, you will be staying in YAST2, and clicking on "System" on the left hand side of YAST2, to open up more settings to play with.



Word of warning:


do NOT play with these settings unless I tell you to, or you know what you're doing. You can REALLY mess up your system from here.

OK, start by clicking on "Run Level Editor".

When you open that window, you see a few basic options, but that's not why I aske you to open it. you'ore going to now edit and possible shut down services running on SUSE Linux. Again, DO NOT SHUT DOWN SERVICES UNLESS I GIVE YOU THE OK. One wrong click and your keyboard stops working.

Now, in the window that popped up, click on "Runlevel properties" and wait for the window to load.

After the window has loaded, you should see a vast amount of information. these are the services/Daemons running on your system.

I'm going to help you excersize the Daemons you don't want/need.

This screen may look odd and hard to understand, but it's really not.

The left shows what service it is, and as you go to the right it gives information aboutt hat service, and the number indicate what run levels it starts up in automatically.

Start by scrolling down a little until you see "Joystick". click on that, and then, towards the bottom where you see "Start/Stop/Refresh" click on "stop".

You don't need this is you don't have a joy stick.

Next, scroll down a little more, and think to yourself "Do I run this machine as a server?".

If you answered yes, then you'll need a few of these more than others, but if you answered "No", then you can safely click on "Portmap" and stop it too.

The next one you should see after scrolling down a little is called "sshd".

If you don't need to log into this box from a remote computer, then you don't need this service running.

You can safely stop SSH.

In here, you also may start up Daemons if you need them, but don't do it if you don't need to, or don't knwo what that means.

After you have everything shut down that you don't need (Only what I told you to click on, and things you were sure of) you can click on the Finish button in the lower part of your screen.

It saves the configuration you just made, and then tells you about it with a pop up window.

Click "Ok" on the pop up, and then the window closes, and you'r done.

You've just made your SUSE Linux system a little more secure. Now, don't be fooled, this is no where near fool proof. You should read up on SUSE Linux. And maybe if people like this tutorial, I'll write another one to show you how to edit the more advanced parts of SUSE Linux.


Now you're ready to reboot. You don't have to reboot because of SUSE Linux though, but because I know you're wondering how to get to Windows.

Reboot the machine by opening a Terminal, and typing "reboot" as Root. The machine begins to reboot, after it shuts down services and things like that.

The machine starts to boot up again, and you'll see GRUB loading. Use the Up and Down arrow keys to select "Windows" and then press Enter.

Windows starts to load, and you're set.

Whenever you turn your computer on, or reboot, you have the option to boot SUSE Linux, or Windows XP now.

Again, thanks a lot! A great help for a LINUX-"greenhorn" like me!
Keep on posting your tutorials!

Thank you very much for this tut. It's really good, and I'll definitely be using it when I install SuSE 9.1 on my laapy. Thanks!!!


J_K9

jesus this is long gore
nice work :D

Good Tutorial, \\

Nice one i was searching one like yours

MAY BE OFF TOPIC:
STUPID QUESTION:-
ok i ve a question,what happens when you are partioning a hard disk and there is a sudden black out and the computer goees off,NEVER HAPPENED WITH ME AND SO I AM CURIOUS
THANX
AND BY THE WAY A VERY GOOD TUT!!

You Pray to God that it's not writing the partition table (Happened too me 5 times)

You hope a UPS is working (Happened to me 3 times)

If it was writing the partition table and corrupted it, you start over from back ups (Happened to me twice)

I once had a problem with a Free BSD install. I was installing it, and everything was going fine, and then the power went out for a few minutes.

This was OK with me, I just turned it back on and went again. A few minutes later, power went off again. I was like what the hell? OK that won't happen anymore, and started the install. Heh, it did.

The power went off 8 times that morning, and once it caught me while writing the HD **** in, so I had to start all over.

It turns out that a problem with the company had caused a couple short 5 minute or so outtages in my area. Needless too say I pissed on their building and shoved a paper clip in the bathroom's mains outlet :)